My 5 year, 70k miles (115k kms) review

[tiggy_rogue]

I purchased my Rogue 5 years ago today. It is a 2WD SL with premium and sunroof packages and has 71,243 miles (115,000 kms for Canadian friends) as of today. With my review, my intent is to give some insight to current newer model Rogue owners on what they should expect in few years down the road.

What went wrong: Pretty much nothing. The maintenance was as follows:

Oil: Every 7000-7500 miles or 6 months. I used either Pennzoil Platinum 5W30 or Mobil 1 5W30. The filters were Purolator Classic (mostly) or Pureone (if on sale). I changed myself (DIY).

Air Filter: Changed at 30,000 miles intervals per manual (Wix from Napa) DIY.

Cabin Air Filter: Once a year, DIY (Wix, from Napa). Real pain to change due to awkward location.

Battery: Failed at 36,700 (right after warrant ended) due to Florida heat. (Nissan Dealer). Note I have steering wheel mounted pedals for gear change (if you dont have it, dont be jealous, they are completely useless for a compact SUV, IMO), they stopped working 500 miles before the car refused to start and towed to Dealer. They started working right after changing battery. Maybe just a coincidence.

Coolant: Changed at 55,100 (Nissan Dealer)

Tires: Changed at 41,200 with Michelins (Costco)

Still on original brakes.

What I like about the car: It is a very reliable, smooth driving car. I like that you sit up high as compared to CRV and Tiguan. I feel like I am driving midsize SUV as compared to the these two competitors. My MPG for the ~71000 miles is 26.1 Mpg. Note that Florida is very flat and we don't have winters that reduce MPG. Up north, expect lower. Also another note is that the displayed MPG is 1.5 to 2MPG optimistic. I use Road Trip App (iPhone App, not sure about Android) to track MPG and all expenses. The seats for me are very comfortable. The trunk is larger than the numbers suggest.

What needs Improvement: Sometimes when my wife is in the passenger seat, the passenger seat airbag turns off for a few minutes and then turns back on. I took it to dealer, they were rude and useless. The rearview visibility is very poor. The interior width of the drivers area is tight. I cannot open my legs as much as I would like to. Also headroom is tight as well. I wish the rear seats slide back and forward to optimize the trunk space. I love the CVT transmission however it whines in the summer when I drive 75mph+. My wife is happy about it though, she says it is doing on purpose so I don't drive fast:)

In short, I am very glad about my purchase, every car has its negatives. I think the positive aspects of Nissan Rogue outweigh the negatives by a long margin.

I will update my post in a year with 6 year information. Please let me know if you have any questions.

[had2seeu]

nice write up...Have you replaced your transmission fluid yet? do any towing with the car...

[tiggy_rogue]

Thanks. The transmission fluid is original. Note that my car has 10 year 120k miles transmission warranty by Nissan. I never towed with the car.

[ImStricken06]

nice write up. thanks for sharing.

PS: id go in and see if its time to drain that fluid (they hook up their special computer to see if the data). if its time, and they find out during a claim - they could use that against you to deny any claims. with this transmission, and pretty much anything now a days; one must be really careful how they go about maintenance.

[tiggy_rogue]

Allright, I am coming from the dealership, I took my car for them to check CVT fluid. Here is my experience: the service was a nice guy, he said that there are sensors in the transmission and they can connect my car to their computer to assess the condition of the transmission for $49. I told him to test the transmission.

Here is the result:

CVT deterioration date at 71k: 19,817
Critical number:210,000. (The service record does not list the unit, I dont know what this is)

As can be seen, the transmission fluid is nowhere near needing replacement. He noted this number in my account, said that I did all I have to do for the warranty. He told me just the bring the car if I have any issue with the transmission before 120k.

[followingnfront]

I agree with you about the seating position/ride height... I feel like I'm right up there with midsize SUVs I pull up next to. I really like this little Ute... Happy with it. Nice write up!